Hazy
by elitemassacre6
Summary: After Finn outs her to the whole state, Santana goes to Rachel's to seek advice from her dads. This story is about the days after that and how these two girl's find themselves much closer to each other than they've ever been.
1. Chapter 1

Hazy

By The Dawn Dreamer

A/N: This kind of fell out of me because my overwhelming desire for Pezberry wasn't being fed and so I had to write it myself.

You found her, oddly enough, on your front porch waiting for you to drive home from the ballet class shared with Brittany. You'd frowned when you got out of your car, because you didn't see the red Chevy Sonic that the cheerio had finally managed to buy over the summer. She stood from the weathered porch swing before you could say anything.

"Sorry for just showing up, I thought um, I thought I could maybe talk to your dads. I wanted to get your permission before I went in...knew you would be back around now." Her hands are buried in the white hoodie she's wearing and it's strange because you've never seen her so dressed down before. She's wearing simple jeans and black chucks and when she looks back up at you after a few seconds you can see she's wearing no makeup and yet she's still so beautiful that you catch yourself staring.

"Yea, I understand, come on in, they're probably making dinner, so you'll stay." She kind of stands there awkwardly in your foyer after you open the door and walk in behind her, so you take off your coat and lay your bag down right by your shoes once you remove those too. The latina looks down at you and then takes off her chucks, following you into the kitchen, nervousness written across her features. You say hi and motion for her to sit at the island while you grab two waters from the fridge and peek into your daddy Leroy's pot.

"Hey, baby girl, how was school?" Is the first thing out of his mouth and you're not sure you want to answer that question so you sit down next to Santana and slide over her water.

"...Horrible, but daddy we have a guest, this is Santana." You stare into her eyes with you next words. "A good friend of mine, she wanted to talk to you and dad about something."

It's now that your dad Hiram walks into the kitchen and kisses you daddy before pouring himself lemonade and taking the seat across from both of you. Santana's hood is down and he looks at her for a second before nodding.

"I remember you Santana, you sang Valerie last year and it was beautiful. I was joking about it with Leroy about how Rachel had some real competition in the club." It makes her smile, and you too and when she stops you look at her, trying to ask with your eyes if she wants you to tell them or if she will. Her brows furrow and chocolate eyes look away. She hasn't really said a word and you hope she's able to open up enough to talk to them.

"Daddy, please come sit down, that won't be ready for a good while. It's important. i know you remember when I told you last year that she's in love with Brittany and that she used to bully me, and why, and..." You pause for a second to look over at her again because your hand is on your left thigh and she's reached over and held it hers, the words I'm sorry are on her lips and you shake your head and squeeze her hand, because it's ok.

"She and Finn have been getting into it lately, and we all, all of us in the club, we know that she's gay but we never say anything but, when she and Finn got into another argument today...He...he outed her, loudly, in a crowded hallway. I'd heard something about this and I told Finn he better tell me what happened, because I was angry. We went to see the Trouble Tones performance and she was... amazing. But afterward, she thought Finn and I were gossiping about her and she slapped him." Your dads shake their heads during all this because they know. You get ready to speak again but then you hear that voice and look over.

"He was so loud in the hallway and this cheerio looked back at us...and she told her dad, and he made that add and now the whole state knows I'm gay and I haven't even told my parents yet and I know...I already know it's not going to go down well...but I came here because I figured you'd both gone through being out and I wanted to know what to expect from the town." You squeeze her warm hand again before you look over at her. You catch her eyes and there's a few tears just now falling that you wipe away with the pad of your thumb.

"I broke up with him when I found out exactly what he did. I couldn't believe...He knows how sensitive I am about stuff like this. I kept seeing it in my head, him being so malicious about it. Maybe I don't kow him at all..." Is the last thing you say, because this isn't about you and you're curious about what to expect from the town too. You'll be there for Santana like you should've always been.

"Santana, we're not going to go over the things that have happened to us, that may happen. What we will do is talk about what you need to worry about. Some people who are too narrow-minded to understand that this is just love could even try to hurt you. So we're going to get you a whistle, and pepper spray, and maybe even a tazer which you'll have to promise to use only in appropriate circumstances, okay? I know you're worried about what to say to your family, Santana, all of us were too, it's not-" You shake your head at your dad when she starts to speak, because this isn't the time and this isn't about you but he's sharing anyway.

"Wait, what do you mean all of you?" You frown at your dad and shake your head before turn it over in her direction, shrugging. You would have told her later on.

"Rachels-"

"No, Daddy, I'll tell her. I'm bisexual and I was afraid of telling them. I was so afraid, like I had failed them..." You hear your father say 'Nooo, baby.' and then Santana is drawing your attention again.

"But both of you are gay, what's would have been a problem about that? I wish I was lucky enough to have two gay parents, this would be so much easier." She runs a hand through silk like hair and you watch.

"No. It's just that people say that gay couples can only possible have gay kids, and dad and daddy always said that that was untrue, so when I realized, I was ashamed. But they understand, you know. It's not a choice and no matter how hard I tried not to be attracted to girls, it never worked." It still doesn't work, because you know the woman next to you is not only in a relationship with another, but could never find you attractive. Her eyes, her lips, the way she's still holding your hand, and her smile as your dads talk to her about how happy they are is drawing you in and you wish there was something for you to hold onto so you could seperate yourself from the attraction. There's nothing, so you squeeze her hand once before you get up to head upstairs and shower before dinner. You're pretty sure you smell like sweat and you're wearing nothing but a leotard.

...

The Berry's are amazing people, that's what you've learned since you've been here. You're helping set the table for four right now and once your done you walk around the living room looking at all the pictures of Rachel and her fathers. You stop in front of one, Rachel in a dress, mid laugh with her feet off the edge of a dock and theirs a bit of water splashed up and caught in the frame. It's in black and white and it's beautiful and so is she. It must have been taken pretty recently, because she looks about the same and the joy in her eyes is something you only ever see when she's singing. You've never seen her this happy out side of that. But with everyone always putting her down, that must be the only time she feels free. You want to meet this girl.

Finally turning away from that photo, you look around the room again. Her trophies are in a case and the furniture looks warm and cozy and the house feels that way. You can hear her upstairs singing in her room and her fathers laughing in the kitchen and it's like no where else you've ever been, because this is a real family and you don't know anyone who has that. The strangest thing that's happened today is the Berry dad's offering you a place to stay if you need it. No one's ever really wanted you in their house, not even your 'family'.

You turn around when Rachel comes down, and she's in jeans, a demi lovato shirt that says stay strong across the chest, and a black zip hoodie and you're not sure you've ever seen her dressed like this. It's cool, but you miss those dresses for a second.

"Dinner ready?" She smiles and you do too, shaking your head.

"Leroy said fifteen minutes. Mind showing me around the house? I've only been here that once." You turn around one more time to look at another picture. Rachel's probably a two or three with that same huge smile on her face and it makes you see that she's had love her whole life and that's why she never broke. She could always come home to this.

"Yes, of course. I was thirty months when that photo was taken, dad says I still have the same smile. Do you think so?" Her smile makes you grin and you nod your head yes.

"It's exactly the same, only little you is just a tad bit more adorable." You follow her up the stairs and she shows you the two guest rooms and then you walk into hers and it's painted a little bit darker than her skin, with black and gold assents everywhere. You swear that Kurt told you it was yellow, but you like this. She stops to grab the remote and you stop right before you bump into her back, her scent filling your nose.

There's this spicy ginger and sweet apple and something underneath that you immediately love. When she turns on the tv you sit on the huge ottomon at the foot of her bed and she sits next to you and then you look up and adventure time is on.

"Yes, I love this show !" Is what you say and you look over at her and she's watching the tv already, Marceline and Princess bubblegum are both on screen and she's watching super closely.

"I keep thinking there's something going on between the two of them. Like a secret relationship."

"Bubbline, huh?" You look over and she's looking at you like you're crazy.

"What is 'Bubbline?" she scoots closer, looks like you just caught the tail end of the show, Regular is coming on, which is awesome.

"You know, Marceline, Princess Bubblegum, Bubbline. People who ship those two together made it up." The show starts and your kind of confused about the fact that she doesn't know what Bubbline is.

"Ok, I get that, and shipping that means they that support that relationship, right?"

"Exactly. I can't believe you haven't heard of any of this stuff."

"Well were did you learn it?" She's sitting on her legs facing you now so you do the same, occaisionly glancing over at your show.

"Tumblr. Don't you have that too?" You ask, you're prepared to delay dinner and set her up with an account right now if she doesn't.

"Yea, I have that. I've never see this bubbline on my dash, though." She's pouting and it's adorable, so you look away towards muscle man and hi five. When you look back she's retrieving a laptop from her bed and opening tumblr before handing it to you. You laugh a little, because this is kind of what you expected.

"Rach, you aren't following the right people or tracking the right tags. This is all dance, music, broadway, movies, style. Here, i'll do it." She watches as you type bubbline in the tags and then track that, following a couple people you find. When you're done, you hand her back the laptop and pull out your phone so you can follow her, the style, movie, and dance stuff on her dash was pretty awesome, and though you didn't mention it, you ship bubbline too. Marceline reminds you of yourself. Because she's supposed to be a vampire but she only drinks the color red. She's supposed to be evil and this badass motherfucker, but she's just mischievous and kind of lonely. You look up because the tv is off and you hear words coming from Rachel's laptop, that's when you realize what it is. The song starts and she drops the pc, pulling you up.

"We found love in a hopeless place!"

You dance around with her, no care in the world for a few minutes, a smile on your face, and a huge one on hers, and you're happy, because you finally got to see that mega huge smile that she hid from you. Maybe you're not so bad a person if she trusts you enough to do that with you so close. When the song fades out, and you both calm down, you hear Hiram calling up the stairs for dinner. You follow her into the bathroom to wash your hands and then down the stairs to the kitchen. It all smells like home and deliciousness and you see quite a bit of food. Your eyes open pretty big because you don't know where to start. Leroy puts his arm around you and you lean into him a bit.

"Alright, San, this is vegan pesto lasagna, it's really delicious and it's one of Rachel's favorite things. This is spaghetti carbonara, it has bacon and shrimp. I don't know if you like bacon, Rachel said that that's more Quinn's thing, but she said you love italian so we did that. Also, you might recognize these here breadsticks." His eyebrows are wiggling around when he tells you about the breadsticks and you laugh at him but you want to cry because no one's ever cared enough to do even this. Rachel comes over and takes your plate away, making it for you, and theirs plenty of food and you get the feeling that she clearly remembers the way you reacted to Mercedes saying you don't eat. She looks at you sternly and you understand clearly that you'll be eating as much of that as you can stomach.

You all sit down at the island and start to eat and you close your eyes for a second to pray that one day you'll have a family like this before you dig into your food. You hear a moan and you see Rachel giggling at you and that's when you realize that it was yours.

"It's so, so good, Leroy. Thank you."

Rachel almost has to drag you down the stairs after the two of you took care of the dishes. You ate way too much but she's been smiling at you since then and you figure she's proud of you or something because of that problem you have but you're a little afraid you won't be a cheerio for much longer, so you guess it won't be a problem for much longer either.

Hiram and Leroy are already cuddled up on the couch and they suggest you pick a movie, so you look at the stacks and when you see Ponyo, you grab that and place it in the blu ray player, sitting down on the couch right next to Rachel. She's got a purple throw blanket covering her and when you get comfortable, she lays part of it on your legs. She has the remote and hits play, giggling again at your choice. You're starting to love the sound because it's light and musical, beautiful. The two of you focus on the movie and it's beautiful too, bright colors and young love and magic.

When it's about twenty minutes from ending you find yourself rubbing circles into your right palm because Rachel said earlier before dinner that she'd take you home when it was done but that place is the last you want to be. You keep your thumb going in circles, but it never feels the same as when Britts does it. It doesn't calm you down at all. Just makes you more aware of the fact that you're in danger of letting a few tears fall. When you feel small, delicate hands take yours and start rubbing those circles, You know it's Rachel, but it feels just as good as if Brittany was doing it and you're not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Your panic slowly dissapates and she leans even closer to you, whispering in your ear that everything is okay.

"I know you're afraid of going home. You're gonna stay here tonight, alright? Don't worry. Everything is ok here. I'm right here." The movie is over and the two Berry dad's have already wen't up to their room, so Rachel turns off the system and pulls you up to hers. She sits you on her bed and you take out your phone and take a quick picture with a real smile on your face, heading to facebook.

' I got outed to the whole state of Ohio today, and I know that maybe I should be crying or thinking about moving or something, because my life will never be the same again. So If you're wondering why this smile is on my face, let me enlighten you. I'm smiling because i'm ok. There are people out there who care about me even now, and that's enough to make me smile. So you can say what you want, but I have love in my life and maybe that's all I need.'

When you hit ok and the message posts you nod, because what you've said is the truth and Although you already see the hate all over your wall, it doesn't faze you right now because you're not alone. You put the phone down and look up at Rachel who's grinning at you.

"What do you feel like sleeping in? Sweats, pajama pants, shorts?" She turns around to open a drawer that obviously holds her underwear and sleepwear.

"Shorts and a tank would be great." She nods and produces a tank top that says PINK across the chest and shorts that say 'bite me' across the ass and you raise a brow.

"Yea, Mercedes. I miss her, how is she?"

"She's great, and she missed you too. I think after everthing you two've been through, she's just afraid that even if she works as hard as you do, that you'll still be better singer." Rachel shuts her eyes tight and frowns.

"I'm not better than her. I don't know how to fix it..anyway, come on." You follow her into her bathroom and she opens a drawer, pulling out a purple toothbrush that's still in it's plastic packaging. She walks towards her shower and stops, opening a closet full of towels, handing you a set. She smiles at you then walks out of the bathroom and shuts the door behind her.

When you hop out of the shower you know you smell like her and as you brush your teeth and towel dry your hair you let yourself wonder how it would feel to live in this place where there's warmth and love everywhere you look. You put all the stuff you've used where it goes and then open the door and walk out, stretching your arms high and yawning. It's been an incredibly long day and not even Rachel can make you forget that. She's on the phone right now and she smiles at you as you listen.

"Yea, she just walked out of the bathroom. No, she ate, I kind of put tons of food on her plate and she ate it all. No problem, I was worried about that too. Yea, I'll do that, night Britt." She gets up and walks up to you, the phone left on her bed, and you pretend that you're a little angry about her caring about your eating habits but it makes you feel better that she cares when she doesn't have to. She stops no further than a foot away from you and you nod at her question. "How was your shower? Feel a little more relaxed? So, Britts asked me to do three things. Give you a hug for her, tell you she loves you, and not let you sleep alone. How many of those would you prefer I didn't do?"

"Um..." You look at her, really look her in the eyes, but you can see the smile that doesn't really reach those coffee eyes and you think that maybe she still believes you hate her. You're not sure you ever really did.

"I'm good with all of that, actually. I really like you, so you don't have to look at me like you're expecting an insult, alright?" She kind of grimaces before stepping back and throwing you a weak smile.

"I know, ok. I just got Kurt back so I'm still a little short on friends and I didn't want to alienate you, because I really like you too." You shake your head at her, and hug her to you for a few moments. She still smell's like apples and ginger and you guess that's what you smell like too. You can hear her whisper that you smell like her and you guess that maybe that's a new experience for her.

"So we're friends huh?" Is what you say once she comes back from brushing her teeth and washing her face and you're both sitting on the bed next to eachother.

"Yep. I officially decided when you picked Ponyo for the movie. You look exausted, ready for bed?" She has that huge smile on as she mentions the movie and she's beautiful and you roll your eyes and grin at her, breathing out 'god, yes' when she asks if you're ready for bed. It's large enough for both of you and you can tell she's the type of girl who sleeps in the middle so you take the left side and lay down, still pretty close to her. The lights go out and you breath deep because the pillow your head is on smells just like her and it's fairly intoxicating. She turns towards you and as your eyes close, clear, bright, coffee is the last thing you see, but you feel her grab your hand and gently push her fingers in between your own. She singing softly and it's different than any way you've heard her voice before and you let it try and lull you into sleep, but you only catch the first few lines of lyrics.

"I watched you sleeping, quietly in my bed. You don't know this now, but there's some things that need to said. And it's all that I can hear, it's more than I can bear." Her lips brush against your knuckles and you fade into the most peaceful sleep you've ever had without a tall blonde beside you.


	2. Chapter 2

Hazy 2

By: Elitemassacre 6 aka Britt

A/N: I wrote this like a week ago, I guess, and I have chapter three already written, but I'm not sure about the direction this is going in, so it me be a few days before I upload that next chapter.

It's around four am when Santana's eyes open for the first time. She's so incredibly comfortable and warm, so she thinks that maybe her unconcsious habit of tangling her body with whoever she's in bed with has won over again, but then she looks down and she and the girl across from her aren't tangled up in each other. It seems that maybe Rachel doesn't share that same trait, or maybe she does. Either way, San's having a hard time considering it a good thing right now. Her left hand is gently gripping a soft, tiny waist and she can only imagine how soft the rest of Rachel Berry is. Said girl is still holding her hand and she can see paler fingers along with her own entwined together. Full lips are still pressed against them and she considers taking her hand back for a second before going back to sleep.

The second time they open, it's around five fourty-five and she's well rested and still so damn comfortable. When she see's what time it is, Santana realizes that in fifteen minutes, Rachel will wake up so she can get right on her morning routine. She moves her right hand around, and when this adorable smile is felt against her knuckles, she realizes her left hand is still on Rachel's exposed waist. The skin there is so soft, but she can clearly see well-defined abs on her stomach and the girl's legs stretch out down past them and Rachel Berry is so beautiful. San tries to remove her hand again, with slow, precise movements of her wrist and digits. The whole thing just helps her realize how soft and full those lips actually are, and once her hand is free, she misses it...a tiny bit. She scoots just a little closer, her hand on the small of the smaller girl's back and her thigh tangled in the paler ones below her.

Rachel's hair is spread across the pillow like it was meant to be, and that scent fills her again, those apples and that ginger and, believe or not she's even more comfy and warm than she was before. She knows it took her ten minutes to free her hand, and it's been around five, so when S. Carey's 'Broken' softly fills her ears, playing softly from the phone, she smiles. The lyrics stir themselves around in her mind and she takes a plump lower lip between perfect teeth, thinking too much about too much. But the angel in front of her is stiring, so she smiles as those eyes open and immediately coffee locks onto her face, the girl behind them starting to move a little more. They are no more than nine inches apart, and Santana never realized how small a distance that is. Her fingers rub circles on the waking girl's back rousing her into full awareness. Rachel opens her mouth to yawn and her breath smells like mint and for half a second, the taller girl wonders how she wakes up looking so beautiful. But she knows the answer to that.

"G'morning, sleepyhead." Santana finds herself placing a soft kiss to Rachel's forehead, an open smile on her lips. She watches as that megawatt smile takes over the singer's features, then gives a lazy half smile as the girl looks down at how tangled together they are then grinns at her.

"What was that for?" There's a hopeful smile on her lips.

"For a few things. Like god allowing me to wake up to you. For having the most comfortable bed ever. And...for trusting me enough to let see that huge smile of yours." A tan thumb runs over a paler cheek and feels the muscles flex as Rachel sends her another one of those smiles. "And for being so beautiful."

"Thank you. But if people gave out kisses because of how beautiful others were, I think you'd find I would be all over you." She rolls her eyes playfully and grins like it was a bit of a joke, but the latina can see how much of it was serious pretty clearly. She'll leave it alone for now.

"Alright, up, up. It's five past. You're totally off scedule. You guys don't have a treadmill or anything do you?"

"You do listen when I talk. Yes, we have another machine. Would you like to join me downstairs for my morning cardio?"

"Yea, can't really slack off. Have anything I can wear?" They both hop out of bed and Santana waits while Rachel goes through a drawer. When she turns around she hands Santana a set of tight fitness wear and heads into the bedroom to change into her own. When she emerges, There's a smile on her face and both girl's are dressed. The singer waits while the latina quickly brushes her teeth and then the girl's head downstairs grabbing water bottles on the way. Rachel hops on her elliptical immediately, pointing at the treadmill and the cycle machine next to it. Santana hops on the treadmill.

"Your dad's work out with you sometimes? That why you guys have three machines?" Rachel nods yes, a smile on her face.

"Allthough usually far and few between, so it's nice to have you here, i'm usually down here alone. They said they're not as young as they used to be, so it's nice to work out with someone I know for a fact can not only keep up with me, but works out more than I do."

"Can I ask you something, Rachel?"

"Of course. What is it?" She smiles at her and Santana turns up the elevation one level.

"You ever think about joining the cheerio's? You can obviously handle the physical part of it. Plus you're smart, and agile, flexible. You're the perfect size for a flyer." Rachel looks like she's thinking for a second before she answers, and Santana watches her as she does.

"I would be fibbing if I told you I never considered the option. But at the end of the day, I just couldn't. I'm always so busy and Sue seems to have a very demanding schedule for her cheerios. I admit I would enjoy the physical exertion, but I would have to think about how being a cheerio would affect my place in the school heirarchy. I always saw how much pressure being popular put on you, Quinn, and Brittany. How much it forced you to be people you werent. I don't think I ever wanted that. Though, I'll admit it would be fun to hang out with you guys all the time!" She ups the incline again and then looked over at the other girl.

Why do you ask?" Rachel grabbed her water bottle and gulped some down, Santana watching the way her throat moved the whole time. The singer plugged her ipod into the machine and hit play, the new Kelly Clarkson album streaming out.

"Don't know, part of me was just curious, another part wonders why I ever joined. I think Quinn did trying to satisfy her fucking dipshit dad by being the daughter he said she was supposed to be. So he could show her off at parties. My daughter the cheerleader, the popular girl, the president of the celicaby club, my daughter who dates the quarterback. That's not her, that was never her...fuck him. Anyway...then Britts joined because she just wanted to dance. And i knew I had to protect them, both of them." Rachel watched as she grimaced, looking away.

"Being on the Cheerios tore apart your friendship, but she's not there anymore. It's none of my business, so I won't ask you what's keeping you from trying to rebuild it now, but what I will say is that if there's one thing Quinn needs right now it's a friend. All the competition and climbing for the top is over so...nevermind, just...She needs you Santana. Both you and Britt. She's so lost and so alone and she needs someone she can trust. I _know_ that's you." Santana wants to yell at her, to tell her to lay off and to mind her own business, but she can't. Her life is falling apart, sure, but she's got Rachel and her dad's and Britt. Quinn's got noone. Now seemed like a good time to fix that.

"I know you tried to talk to her and she blew you off. But don't be too mad at her for that shit. She's got it in her head that she's poison for anyone she get's close too. I'm gonna try, yea? So you do too. I know you've given her a shitload of chances and she's threw it all back in your face, but you can't give up on Q okay?" It'd been an hour and a half so both girls hit their cool down. Santana's sipping on water when a soft hand is placed on hers

"Ok. I won't give up on her. I promise." The latina whispers a thank you and they finish their cool down before hopping off the machines.

"I love the way feel when I get off of those. Like I'm floating. Why does it do that?" They head up the stairs to Rachel's room while the smaller brunette tells her.

"While you're on the treadmill, you're brain tells you that you're moving, but your inner ear, which is responsible for your impeccable balance, says that you arent. When you get off those signals reverse and it causes you to feel like you're floating or moving even when you aren't. I used to love the feeling of it, like I could just float away to somewhere else." Santana looks at her in a way she doesn't understand, so Rachel raises a single brow, no words leaving her lips. They stand there for a second, watching each other. The latina looks around for a few seconds, brow furrowed, before looking back up at her, a heavy frown curving her lips. Soon enough, Rachel breaks their staring contest and walks into her closet, coming out with underwear, jeans, a bra, a brown blouse and a cream colored camisole. She hands these to Santana and goes into her bathroom to grab some shampoo and conditioner before heading towards the guest room.

A few hours later found both girls fully dressed and at the recently finished Starbucks on Maine. Rachel popped a strawberry in her mouth and scrolled down the page on the laptop to her left. Bubbline was now officially all over her dash and she was loving it.

"Why don't you love it anymore?" Santana asked, not looking up from her sticky bun. She expected the singer to ask exactly 'to what are you referring?' but instead, when she looked up Rachel had this kind of open mouth giggly silly simple smile on while staring directly in her eyes.

"Because I don't want to float away anymore. I'm happy where I am. People like us, we only get so much time to be in this place. Things aren't perfect at all, but some things are great. And when I leave here, I'm going to miss those things." The latina doesn't understand, and it was becoming a habit.

"What you mean, people like us? Who else is people like us?"

"Me, you, Britt, Kurt, Blaine, Puck, Quinn, Mercedes, Mike and Tina, Sugar, that Cheerio couple that are always together? One of them is blond and the other's brunette. What're their names?"

"Isabel and Cadie? Wait, are they a couple?"

"Yes. There's more to the list. The point is, those of us who are going to leave this town will miss some things about the town and the people they leave behind." Rachel hopped up to grab another carrot juice and when she came back, Santana was frowning at her.

"Please tell me you're not talking about being sad 'cuz you're leaving Finnocence behind?" She rolls her eyes then pops a peice of bun in her mouth.

"Oh, no. If I'm completely honest and open with you, and I will be, Finn had only recently become the type of person I see myself with. He had no real goals, it seemed like he only wanted me when I was taken, he never defended me, never complimented me, and he only just now became a good excuse for a glee club co captain and I think that I deserve more than that. Enough about him. I've meant to tell you since the show how amazing you were."

"It was really fun. I kind of always thought musical's sucked, but it was pretty awesome. Being on that stage with all these people out there was just...I don't even know. It was just amazing. I thought I did pretty damn good." Rachel held her hand as she spoke, and shook her head when she stopped talking.

"No, you were more than good. You were perfect. Your accent and your dancing and your voice. You were an amazing Anita. I believe you could easily have a career on the stage if you really wanted it. Watch." Rachel had her dad record the whole show and she has a video of the "America" performance. Locating the videos in her files, she hits play once she finds it. They watch it together, Rachel smiling the entire time. Santana looked beautiful in the performance and she knew the girl had the raw talent for this. The latina was an amazing actor, singer, dancer.

"Wow. I'm pretty damn amazing at that." Rachel smiles, nodding,

"Have you ever considered doing this? Broadway? Or am I wrong and you meant it when you said you hate musicals?" there's a smirk on her face that Santana rolls her eyes at.

"No, I don't hate it, and don't tell anyone I said this, but I don't really think i'm good enough. I know you're a soprano so we'd be in different roles, but I don't have the training and drive to be succesful in this like you will be. I do love the acting, singing, and dancing though. I love being able to immerse myself into a role like that. I _was_ Anita for those hours. Anyway, If i'm honest, since we're really talkin' about this shit, I want to be a child psychologist or counselor or something like that. To help kids like me and Quinn." Santana drains the rest of her coffee and the two girls head out of the coffee shop. It was around one o clock and the taller girl looked over at Rachel as they stopped outside the door.

"What?"

"So you know how you said you haven't had many chick friends?"

"I do." They hopped in the car and sat there, Rachel trying to find the album she was looking for. When she saw Robyn's Body Talk, she hit shuffle and Dancing On My Own played loudly through the speakers, both girls singing the first few lyrics.

"I'm starting to really love your music choices, Rae. But, anyway, if you're up for it, I figured we could go hit the mall and get our shop on. I would say we should pick up Britts but I she said something about hanging with Q." Rachel nodded and took the turn that would take them to the mall.

"So what's up with the heeled boots?"

"My acting coach told me it would be beneficial for me to start to wear heels so that I'll be more comfortable with them in future rolls. I've been doing it for around six months, but never at school, last time I put anything like that on I garnered more attention than I cared for." She shakes her head, Jacob is one thing she won't regret leaving behind in ohio.

"It's because you look hot. You shoulda heard what Britts said last time you dressed like that. All day she was talking to me about threesomes. I'm just a tiny bit glad she isn't here now, she'd be all up over that." Rachel just shakes her head a laughs a little bit, still dancing in her seat.

"What, like you wouldn't be all over my Brtt's if she offered. She's fuckin' delicious." Rachel shook her head, stopping at the light before them.

"I wouldn't. I agree, I love Brittany and she is completely beautiful. But, Santana I'm no longer the type of person who gets between two people in a relationship. It's something I've worked hard to change about myself and I'm proud of that." Santana nodded her head, she understood. Seconds later, that seductive grin curved her lips.

"You said come between, so if me n' B asked you to have a threesome with us, what would you say?" This had started off as a harmless joke, but now, Santana admited to herself, she wanted to know the answer to the question. Rachel laughed a little loudly, looking over as they finally left the longest light in history.

"I would pretend I had to consider it, then the next day I would say yes." She ran a hand through her hair mussing it up just a bit. It only added to her sex appeal.

"I will for sure be filing that away for further use, Rae, so remember you said it, because I will."

"I'll try to remember that. I'm glad you suggested going to the mall. I need a new dress and shoes for a party."

"Whoa, what party?" Santana asked, eyebrow raised.

"Oh, don't worry, you haven't been invited yet because I just asked dad and daddy yesterday. Next week for Sectionals. They decided to head out to Chicago for a weekend since they haven't been out of town since last year. I'll have it in the basement again, and Noah is procuring the alchohol so everything'll be ready. You and Britt are officially invited." They finally pull into the parking lot and hop out of the car, Rachel pulling open the entrence door for Santana.

"Thanks. So who all is coming to this party?" Rachel lead the way to the dress store she was thinking of buying a dress at.

"The glee kids and the Troubletones, Finn isn't invited unless you want him to be there. I thought about asking David to come, but Kurt said that he's still just getting used to going out again."

"I get that. Me 'n Britts'l be there. You know what, let me give her a call." Santana pulled out her phone at his her number two speedial, putting it on low volumed speaker.

'Hey, San, what's up?'

"Nothing really baby, I just called to update."

'Everything is great! Me and Q are at the mall. Kurt told me about a party at Rachel's next week so we're shopping. Were are you and Rachel?'

"Yea, I was just gonna tell you 'bout that party. Wait, are you at the mall in Alderton?"

'Yea we are, I'm buying Quinn icecream at the Ben and Jerrys.'

"Alright, we're here too, coming to you, ciao babe." The two brunettes walked towards the Ben & Jerry's and indeed, found two blondes. Brittany launched herself into Santana's arms when she was close enough, a smile on her face.

"Hello, Brittany, hello Quinn. How goes your search for partywear?" The guy over the counter handed a cone each to the two blondes and it looks like the dancer ordered milk and cookies and the shorter blonde ordered chunky monkey. She watches as Santana orders half baked and then orders berried treasure for her. How she knew to order that is something she'll ask about later. Rachel hands her a ten dollar bill and then turns back to Quinn, who Brittany is motioning towards while talking.

"Quinn found the most awesome dress. It's like pear colored, and she's got the perfect shoes, so she's good. I'm still trying to decide what to wear, but I was thinking a skirt. Help me with that, Rachel?" Santana hands over the singer's sorbet and they head off towards another shop.

"Yea, so then I said, well what if me and you asked her to have a threesome with us, what would she do..she said that she'd pretend like she had to think about it and then say yes the next day. So, like incase I forget that shit. You gotta remember, babe. Cuz I wants up on that and I _know_ you do." Quinn was looking at them like they were all crazy and Rachel was sitting next to her, sipping on her tea. The blonde looked over with that brow raised, obvious question on her lips.

"You really said that? You would do that?" Rachel nodded.

"I can understand your confusion, but look at them. They've both so beautiful in so many ways, and at the end of the day, I trust them. Both of them. So yes, I'd do that." She watched as Quinn ate a little more then sat back against her chair, thinking. Santana gently gripped the jewish girl's hand, smiling.

"Thanks for saying that." Brittany nodded her agreement.

"It's true."

"You sure you're ready to do this? I'd love to have you stay as long as you want." Darker fingers slipped between her own and Rachel felt the first tears fall because she didn't know what would happen once Santana walked into that house and she drove away. She just wanted to keep her close, protect her.

"Hey, Rae don't cry. Everything's gonna be fine, ok. I'm just gonna deal with this. I've been hiding for too long and like you said, if my family can't love me for who I am then maybe they don't deserve to. I'm just gonna talk to my dad and then I'll call you." Rachel nodded her head and brought slender hand to her lips and place a soft kiss on the latina's knuckles.

"Please be okay. If something happens, like, god forbid him kicking you out you call me immediately. And I'll speed over here." Santana grinned.

"No, no law breaking, that's my thing. I'll be fine, ok?" Rachel watches as she opens the door to the car and starts to get out, the shorter girl finally letting go of her hand. Santana walks towards her front door, waving once she opens it. She decides as she sits in the car that she'll stay. She has her laptop and if it gets to be too long she'll hop on that or talk to Britt or Quinn. She grabs her phone now to send out a text.

_R - She just walked in the door. I'm kind of freaking out, so I'm gonna sit here and wait till she calls me so I know she's okay. I'll call you the second I find anything out._

She waits a minute or so for the text to come in from the dancer.

**B - Yea, I'm worried too. But you have to calm down, we have to be strong for her, ok? Please do call as soon as you hear anything. Thanks for waiting and making sure she's okay.**

_R - You're right, I'll do my best to calm down. Goodbye for now._

She waits for another two hours, finally just taking out her laptop at the thirty minute mark and playing some games to calm herself down. It's now that she gets a call. She doesn't even check the caller idea before she nearly slams the phone against her ear and answers it. She can clearly hear the tears in the girl's voice.

"Hey, Rae. See, told you I would call. So I talked to my dad. He, um, he wasn't mad at me. He said he understood that it wasn't a choice I made and he isn't kicking me out. He called our lawyer, so he's gonna try and find a way to get the video taken off air. He does want me to stay somewhere else for the next two weeks so he can figure out what he's gotta do. It feels like he just wants me out. But he said...he said that my mom was living in cleveland, and she saw the video and she's coming to town and he doesn't want her anywhere near me and he's trying to protect me and I guess I understand. I know i didn't tell you much about her, but I will. So, I was wondering if you would maybe come get me? I need somewhere to stay and i was thinking I'd talk to Britt or Quinn. I know your dad's said that I could stay, but I don't know if they really want me there and I don't want to intrude on your house."

"Whoa, Ana, calm down. I'm so glad you're okay and that you're dad didn't really kick you out. From the little you told me about her I can understand him wanting you to stay somewhere else and my dad's really want you to stay okay. They love you, Ana. I'm already here. I never left. I was afraid something would happen and I didn't want to leave you here if something did. I'm coming to the door, I'll help you grab stuff that you'll need." Rachel hung up her phone and when the door opened and the latina girl was on the other side she pulled her into her arms and stood there for a second. When she finally let go, she was pulled up the staircase and to the girl's room.

"I can't believe you stayed out there for two hours. How'd I end up with a friend like you?" She goes into her closet and grabs a cheerios duffle bag and one she got from her dad from when he used to be a doctor in the marines. Rachel looks around her room. All but one of her walls was purple, the last being black. And though the singer didn't know if she'd ever paint her wall so dark, it felt like Santana, she loved it.

"I could ask the same question. So how do you want to do this? How about you bring me all the clothes you want and I'll put them in here so everything will fit, then go get all the stuff from the bathroom and I'll do the same?"

A half hour later and Santana had everything she needed, Rachel'd called Brittany and filled her in when they'd started and they had loaded everything in the back of the volt and were pulling up at the Berry house.

They both hopped out of the car when Rachel parked and opened the trunk, each grabbing a duffle bag. When the got to the door Leroy opened it and grabbed both the bags and the one box, hauling them up to the guest room. Santana had called them from the car. She pulled her shoes and and hung her coat on the rack, yawning and stretching as she walked into the living room. Both Leroy and Hiram were in there, watching what looked like Top Chef.

"Thank you so much for taking me in. I really appreciate it, Leroy, Hiram."

"It's okay, We're glad to have you here. It's like we get to have two kids for a while. You know Rachel's always singing about being an only child." Santana has to laugh at that and Rachel comes in from the kitchen with a pout on her face.

"Will everyone just forget that I wrote that horrible song?"

"Would you rather we talked about 'My Headband'?" Hirams eyebrows wiggled, a laugh filling the room.

"NO! Only Brittany ever gets to talk to me about that song. She appreciates my creativity." Santana couldn't hold in her laugh either and soon all of them were giggling about Rachel's songs.

"Come on, Rae. Wanna help me get set up in the guest room?" The shorter girl nodded, playfully frowning at her fathers. She followed Santana up the stairs and to the room directly across from her own. It was painted enough shades darker than Rachel's tanned walls. She kind of needed the darker tone and once she got some of her stuff in here, it would be closer to home than she had even been at home. It took no longer than twenty minutes for she and Rachel to get all the clothes hung up, the stuff in the bathroom, her comforter and sheets on the bed, A picture of Brittany on the dresser, and all the little stuff wherever it was needed. Rachel would take her to get her car tomorrow.

"Does it feel like home?" The singer asked, both of them on their backs on the bed.

"More then my house does. This whole house feels more like home than mine ever has. It's because of Leroy and Hiram and You. I promise. When I get older, and I have kids, i'm going to give thim a home like this." Ceremonials, the Florence and the Machine album, plays in the backround as they talk.

"You think about that? Having kids?" She looks over, and Santana nods, imagining names in her head.

"Yea. I think about them, and their names and personalities. Them jumping into our bed christmas morning and it's six a.m. we told them not to wake us up before then. And their bouncing around and yelling 'Wake up mommy! It's christmas! Wake up!'. And I look over at my wife and I expect to see Britt all exited about Christmas... and my wife, she is excited, but it's not Britt...I mean maybe it is, but i can't tell, it's blocked out, like a ghost..." Rachel's brows furrow and she looks over and locks eyes with chocolate.

Do you know their names?" Their laying on their sides now, facing each other.

"Isabel and Michael."

"It's beautiful." Santana looks over, confused.

"The life you imagine. It sounds so beautiful."

"I look out the window past the tree and...down at street level is the subway entrence, and I know if i go on the roof I can see the chrysler building and the city covered in snow." Rachel's eyes open wide, then scoots closer.

"In New York? Is that where you want to go?" She has to calm her heart down. She _has_ to.

"I'm in the process of getting everything together for my app to Columbia. My gpa is 3.94, my ultracurriculars are great, everything is. I think...I think I might get in. I learned alot from you, so I've applied to plenty of other schools, most of them in New York." Rachel is all of a sudden hugging her and Santana lets her.

"I had no idea you even wanted that, Ana. I should have asked. But this is so wonderful. You'll get there."

"Thanks. I hope so. Promise me we'll keep in touch either way." The taller girl is on her back again, and she pulls the singer into her, Rachel's head resting on her chest.

"I promise, Ana." Is spoken lightly. And said girl thinks that she needs to talk to Brittany soon about all of this because the thing's she's beginning to think about Rachel are...no, feel, feel about Rachel are making her feel like she's already done something wrong. Because the girl drawing stars on her chest with a slender finger is sweet and smart and loving and sexy and beautiful and honest and perfect and it's everything she's ever loved in Brittany too and that's a problem.


	3. Chapter 3

"You mean you're not like, mad, or jealous or something?" Brittney pushed them again, the porch swing rocking back and forth.

"No. Is that what you wanted?" The latina scoots closer and lays down, feet propped on the end of the swing and head in the blonde's lap.

"Maybe. If you were I could maybe find a reason to force this out of me. I don't know, it's just fucking inconvinient, babe. I told her about those dreams I have, with Isabel and Michael and the city all that." Long fingers combed through her hair and her eyes slipped closed.

"Yea? What did Rachel think?"

"She said that it was beautiful, that life. She got super excited when I told her about Columbia. To be honest, even in this amazing place, and with some of her friends back, I think she's just lonely. You can only spend so much time with your parents. Anyway, how do I get rid of this, baby? I don't want it. I just want you and the city and Izzy and Michael." Brittany leans down and they kiss, Santana licking her lips when they seperate.

"Why should you try and get rid of it? Maybe it's supposed to be this way."

"No, It's supposed to be you. I want it to be you. And hell's no to all that Polyamorous shit. Don't you have to like, love her for us to do that?"

"Yea. But I've totally been telling you forever that I love Rachel, though I meant it in a friendly way. The more important thing is that Rachel's obviously got feelings for you, and baby, we can't break her heart. If we do she'll go back to Finn or do something equally stupid and he's not good for her. We gotta be smart about this baby. We've got two weeks to get this right." The door opened behind them and Rachel walked out, somehow managing to balance three coffee's in her hands. She handed one to Brittany, hazelnut and chocolate, one to Santana, dark italian roast, then sipped at her own espresso. she sat down on the spring, lifting Santana's legs and then laying them bag over her thighs.

"Good morning Britt, Ana. Feel like brunch?" She sipped at her cup again, letting it warm her through.

"I'm totally up for brunch. I feel like waffles and I think San probably wants an omelet. Where're we going?"

"Maggies, in South Lima. Have you ever been there?" Rachel swallowed down the dregs of her coffee and looked up at the sun.

"I think so, yea. Is that the place with the huge blueberry french toast?" Britany said, making hand motions.

"Yep. Wanna go?"

"Yes. We're going, Britt's sent me a pic of the french toast and I've been thinking about it ever since." Santana hopped up and took the empty mugs in the kitchen. When she came back out, Rachel spun her keys around on her finger, that huge smile on her face.

"So hungry! I'll drive. Battery is full." The girls hopped in the car and Rachel handed Brittany the iphone so she could pick the music for the ride. She went through it, a couple times.

"You're music tastes are awesome, Rae." She finally picked the new Coldplay album.

"Thanks. Oh, good choice. I love this album, though I still don't understand the title."

"Yea seriously, what the fuck does Mylo Xyloto mean? Am I even pronouncing that right?" Santana said, the other two girl's shrugging.

"So what do you eat at Maggies, Rae? Isn't brunch like typically anti-vegan with all the eggs and bacon and stuff like that?" Rachel nodded.

"Yes, that's true, and I'm glad you mentioned it Britt. I usually order the banana hazenut chocolate vegan french toast. It's delicious and completely vegan." She turned onto the next street laughing as Santana danced around to Princess Of China, singing Rihanna's part.

"Wait, hazelnut chocolate, so, like vegan nutella and bananas? That sounds really good. Nutella and bananas is like my favorite sandwhich."

"If you're interested, you should try the banana nutella waffle. My Daddy think's it's awesome." They pulled up to the restaraunt five minutes later, once they were inside and Rachel had said hello to and hugged Maggie and another woman too, they were seated in the quote 'Berry' booth and had hot chocolate in front of them. Santana looked over at the plaque at the base of the window that said in bold print. 'This booth is dedicated to the Berry Family'.

"Are you gonna tell me why is this called the Berry booth?" Santana asked, sipping her chocolate and closing her eyes in pleasure. So good.

"My dad's went to law school with Maggie. Eventually she wanted to quit her practice and open this place and she didn't have all the money for the property, so we gave it too her. She's my godmother." She gulped down more of the hot chocolate from her mug, smiling at the waitress who placed a bowl of vegan biscotti on the table. She dipped one in her mug and then put the chocolate soaked half in her mouth.

"That's awesome. See babe, I told you how awesome Leroy and Hiram are." Maggie took a break and came back to the table, taking a seat next to Rachel.

"Hey, Rach. Introduce me to your friends?" Rachel nodded and motioned at Santana first.

"This is my friend, Santana and her girlfriend and my friend Brittany. Apperantly Ana's been craving your french toast for weeks." Santana's gaze shifted sharply when Rachel told her who Britt was, but the brunette's eyes were focused on Maggie and the cook and reseraunt owner only smiled larger, extending a hand to each girl.

"Nice to meet you girls. Glad you like the french toast, I'll make sure to send you home with a bit of extra for you and for Roy. Enjoy your food guys, gotta head back to the kitchen." She waved as she walked back, Santana had to admit she was really nice and hadn't reacted negatively to she and Brittany's relationship.

"You're thinking too much, I'd never say something like that to someone I didn't trust and who you couldn't trust. Look back over there, towards the door. You see the woman greeting customers?" They looked over and saw a woman in her early thirties, beautiful and smiling.

"Yea?"

"That's Maggie's wife, Jessie. We all went to Boston back in summer 2004 and they got married. I was seven years old and they looked so happy. I remembered the kids used to not want to play with me because they said all kids were supposed to have one mommy and one daddy. But they were so happy, and I didn't understand why that mattered, you know. I asked Jessie back then and she told me that those kids were wrong. That all that mattered was love, that it didn't matter if you had two dads or two moms or three or four, if you loved them then that was ok." The singer held herself with her elbow on the table and her chin on her fist, a smile on her face that made the other girls smile too. She watched as Brittany looked over at Santana, nodding.

"What can I get you girls? Oh, hi, Rachel." The waitress said, looking down at Rachel, she smiled and her dimples appeared, having been buried at the bottom of high cheekbones. Long, richly brown and wavy hair had been pulled into a messy ponytail. Brittany looked over at Santana and mouthed the word 'hot' to her, the latina bit her lip and nodded back.

"Hello, Natalie. I'll have the usual and another hot chocolate." Rachel looked at the other girls and nodded so they'd order she listened while they did, watching Natalie out of the corner of her eye, a full lower lip in between white teeth. When they'd finished, Natalie looked back at Rachel and flashed a big smile before licking her lips, telling them she'd be back shortly, and turning around to head to the kitchen

"God, baby she's hot. Did you see how she was looking at Rachel?" Rachel looked away, out the window, trying to ignore them. She felt warm, slender fingers on her chin, turning her head back towards the two girls. It was Brittany.

"Dish, Rae. You saw her checking you out right? Wait, is she...are you..did you?" Brittany gave Santana a look that said calm down then looked back at Rachel.

"When we were younger, thirteen, the summer before I came to McKinley the two of us worked here together. We had a...relationship of a kind. I had my first sexual experiences with her, but I was still a virgin until a fee weeks ago. At the end of the summer I broke up with her because I was afraid of dissapointed my fathers, by being gay, as I told you. She's been working here since then, saving money for college. Every time I come back she looks at me like that. I've been so fixated on Finn that I never considered rekindling our romance. She's gorgeous, and maybe now is the time, but she's going to florida for marine bioligy and i'm going to New York. I don't want to get into another relationship just to have to leave somone to go to New York." Santana rolled her eyes. The was the first rant she'd heard from Rachel in weeks. Brittany looked over at her. The shake of her head not visible to anyone but her.

"I would totally get it if you wanted to get back with her again, she's really hot and she seems nice. But me and San think maybe you're right about getting into something just to leave in like six months. I mean, if it's just about sex, there's the two of us." That was the last thing Brittany said before Natalie returned with their hot chocolate and food.

"Enjoy guys. I'll be around again to check if you need anything."

"It's not really about the sex. I've just known her forever and she knows me better than almost anyone and It would be nice to have someone who knows you like Britt knows you Santana. Knows what you like in bed and everything else too. Finn never really knew me, never tried to. I deserve that, I think." She cut up her french toast and popped some in her mouth, watching the way Santana's eyes got bigger when she saw her own french toast.

"You know what? You do deserve that, and you're gonna get it. Someday in New York, someone's gonna make you super happy, Rach. Until then, you got me and San. And we'll get to know you and you'll get to know us and it'll be like you have that person in us, if that makes sense. We'll be your best friends and..." It was now that the blonde put some of her nutella banana waffle in her mouth.

"Omg. This is good." Rachel giggled at her.

"I thought you'd like that." She watched the girl's eat for a few moments, devouring her own food as well. Brittany was confusing sometimes. What did she mean by what she'd said? She wasn't sure, but Rachel could admit that the idea of sex with the two women sitting across from her was an attractive idea. But she needed more than that. She'd never really had any of her boyfriends put in an effort to really care about her in any legitimate sense and she just wished someone would.

Fifteen minutes later, Natalie returned with a take out box full of french toast and Rachel asked for the check.

"Maggie said you're not paying for anything. It's all on the house." She said, a grin on her face, because she just knew Rachel was going to argue this.

"I'm paying, thank you. I refuse to eat for free. That's like...thievery." Rachel said, pulling out thirty dollars, which she knew was too much. She was going to pay someone for this food." Natalie rolled her eyes at her playfully, shaking her head.

"No, Rae look it's on the house. Just let it go, yea?" Rachel huffed and frowned, dropping the money on the table.

"Fine then, I guess you get a thirty dollar tip." She stood up and Britt and Santana did the same, watching with something between amusement and jealousy as Rachel grabbed the money from the table and the taller girl's hand, opened it, and placed the money inside. She closed delicate fingers around the money and then dropped her hand.

"Rachel the bill would've onnly been like twenty dollars." Said girl grabbed her coat and shrugged it on her shoulders. Bright green eyes following her every movement.

"I know. See you later, okay?" The sing leant up on her toes to press a kiss on the soft skin at the corner of the green eyed girl's mouth before turning and heading towards the exit. Brittany looked back once they were outside the door to see the girl still looking in their direction. Twenty minutes later, the girl's got back to the Berry home.

"How do you guys feel about watching a bunch of Hayao Miyazaki films? Like a marathon? Or maybe you guys would rather spend some time alone? I would understand. I'll just...maybe I'll go read a book." She pulled off her boots and her jacket, taking the box from Maggies in the kitchen to put away. When the short brunette walked through the living room and had her foot on the first stair, Brittany stopped her, holding her hand and bringing her back. Santana stood behind her, but it was the blonde who spoke.

"No, please hang out with us... I love those movies. Which ones do you have?" Rachel smiled at her and led the two girls down the stairs to the theatre room.

"I have all of them. Where should we start?"

"Kiki's delivery service, for sure. San's favorite is Princess Mononoke. What's yours?"

"Spirited Away." Santana looked over and caught her eyes, her own narrowing as her brow furrowed over them, a frown shaping her lips. She hated it, the way that her saying that made her think of Rachel dissapearing and though it would be off the plot of the film, never coming back. Brittany looked over at her while the the shorter brunette slipped the blonde's choice into the blu ray player. The latina just put her hands up and shrugged, mouthing the words 'i just don't like when she does that'.

"Popcorn guys?" Rachel asks, grabbing two throw blankets and tossing one to Santana.

"No, I think we both ate way too much." When the singer sits down on the love seat alone Brittany shakes her head and tells her to come over to the couch with them. She brings the ottomon over and all three girls stretch out comfortably, the latina seated between the two of them.

It's been around six hours and their almost at the end of Princess Mononoke, Rachel layed out flat with her head halfway between being in Santana's lap and being in Brittanys. The two girls are running their hands through her hair and she's whispering about how beautiful San is. Something about the situation makes Brittany begin to understand how lonely the girl is. She asked the singer a hour ago if Finn'd ever watched these movies with her and she'd said that Finn thought they were chick flicks and wouldn't watch them. Santana'd made a comment about how he was probably just a little too stupid to read the subtitles. But, she can't help but wonder how often Rachel's down here stretched out on the couch watching movies alone. The dancer leans over and presses the softest kiss to her girlfriend's exposed neck, whispering the words I love you into her ear. The latina whispers them back to her and Brittany can't help but wonder why they're all whispering. But maybe she does know. This moment between the three of them, all connected by touch, maybe it's fragile, none of them willing to shatter it. The singer says it again, how beautiful the girl on screen is, it's obvious she meant to say it more to herself, but Brittany leans down and presses her lips against the girl's temple.

"You're beautiful too, Rae." Is all she says, beginning to sit back up straight. She's pulled back down by the caramel colored finger on her chin, her lips connecting with Rachel's and maybe Brittany's a bit surprised and maybe not. You can't really be pulled anywhere by your chin. Just guided, and as Santana watches she thinks that's exactly what she just saw. She watches them kiss for a moment she will swear later on that this moment is frozen in time, because she can't hear the movie or anything else. She's supposed to be jealous right? Or angry or turned on or something like that, something she can act on immediately. But Santana isn't feeling any of those things. Ok, maybe she's a little turned on. But what she feels is love and she thinks that maybe what Britt suggested earlier could work.

"Oh my god. I...I'm so sorry. Brittany I'm sorry I didn't mean to assault you in such a way...or in any way...god I'm sorry. Santana I'm sorry, she's your girlfriend. Shit...I kissed your girlfriend. What did I do... I'm so sorry."

The words fell from her lips in a flurry of sudden activity and sounds and it shocks Santana because she knows that Rachel can rant but all of those words were spoken in a matter of seconds and Brittany is still reaching forward, trying to reconnect their lips and when the latina looks back up, the singer is still freaking out so she hops off the couch and buries her hands in the softest hair.

Their lips are connected and she didn't realize how bad she really wanted this until it was happening. Rachel's tongue is in her mouth and it's so good and then Britt's standing next to her and Santana disconnects from the frowny faced girl, pushing her towards her girlfriend. Puck did tell her that one time that the best way to shut Rachel up is by sticking your tongue in her mouth. They break apart to breath and Rachel isn't talking, so that's good.

"Calm down, alright? It's ok. I'm not pissed, Rachel. Britt isn't either, right, baby?" She was definately turned on now.

"No, i'm not mad."

"So what does that mean? Is this about the threesome thing? I mean, I want that but-"

"You do?" Brittany rolls her eyes over at the latina, shaking her head and taking a tan hand in her own, brushing hair out the girls face with her other. Piercing blue staring straight into the singer's own coffee eyes.

"No, baby. It's not about that. It's about us, the three of us." Santana finally manages to cool away the heat that had begun to settle in her gut. thinking about Finn and Mr Shue were the perfect combination for her and she almost fucked that up when she went and thought about Sugar Motta for half a second.

"I don't understand. What do you mean the three of us? That doesn't make sense unless you're talking about...but...really?" Rachel want's to ask them why they would want her, but she doesn't because Brittany shakes her head at her, it's always the blonde who can see what she's going to say before she does. The blonde knows Santana well enough to know that to hear Rachel say those words would tear the latina apart.

"I know it's...you would say like...unorthadox or something. And I thought it was weird too. But I feel it." The singer is processing words now and when she realizes that Brittany called her baby she looks at her brows up.

"Baby?" The other two girl's are looking at each other communicating completely voicelessly and when Rachel talks the blonde pulls her close.

"Yep. We want you, Rach. Me and San, we want to make you happy. And whenever you need one of us or the other or both of us we're here."

"Rae it's up to you, do you want us too?" She found herself in between the two of them, lips on her own and on her neck and it all felt so good and she wanted to be happy. They wanted that for her too. Didn't she deserve that? So she nodded and connected her lips to each girl.

"Ok."


	4. Chapter 4

Hazy

Chapter 4

Santana is, without a doubt, beyond bored. She loves to read, and the way the people in the book talk reminds her of Rachel, but the book in her hands is making her want to close her eyes, and occaisionaly, she does...just for a few seconds. But the coldness in her abuela's eyes is what she sees when she does. So the latina keeps her eyes open and reading page after page. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a welcome escape from the memory of a woman who loved her until she'd finally had the courage to speak the truth.

When she left her grandmother's house, Santana had driven back to the Berry house, make up smudged, tears and sobs still being torn from her body when she walked through the door. It had taken Hiram holding her and whispering soothing words for hours before she just couldn't cry anymore tears. She wouldn't do that anymore. She'd promised herself. After she'd taken a shower and gotten ready for bed Santana decided to sleep in her own room for the first time. Rachel had argued with her about how she should sleep alone, but she did. Or so she thought. When she woke up, tan slim arms were rapped around her waist and she could feel the smaller girl's breath against her neck.

Santana had really wanted to be angry, to lash out at...something, anything... but when Rachel woke up and told her that she just couldn't sleep alone, she couldn't be. The time in her class flashed by her and she stood up to walk out and to her locker when the bell rang. She grabbed her anatomy book and headed up the stairs to the classroom, smiling when someone nudged her shoulder and it turned out to be Quinn.

"Hey, you okay?" Santana shook her head and stared over into hazel eyes. She was just starting to understand that Quinn was just as torn up inside as she was beginning to feel.

"No. Are you?" The blonde bit down on her lip and frowned, dropping her book on her desk when Santana sat down.

"No. But um...I'm trying. How's Rachel dealing with being suspended?"

"About how you would imagine. She's freaking out. She's like, never skipped, or been late, or any of that. She was runnin' around the house yesterday talking about how her perfect attendence record for all of high school was shattered. I asked her why it mattered and she said she'd always wanted to be valedictorian." Brittany walked in when she stopped talking, taking a seat behind Quinn.

"Hey, B. So did you send in your application for Columbia?"

"Yea, she did. We all went to send in all our application letters yesterday. We called you, but you didn't answer, did you send yours in?" Brittany asked, pulling out her book and her notes.

"Yea. I'm just um...I'm afraid I'm gonna get stuck here, you know. And that's why I need my Beth so bad. Because it proves that even though I'm fucking useless, even if I'm nothing, Beth proves that I've done something good, you know?" Santana's head whips to the right to stare into the eyes again, and maybe it's worse than she though.

"Listen Q, you're a lot of things, neither one of them is useless, or fucking nothing, ok. I know you're hurting bad. But you can't think that shit, ok?" Brittany nods her agreement, squeezing the other blonde's hand in her own.

"Besides, you're totally getting out of here. Rachel even said so. She said you're a great dancer and a better actor. And she said you're really intelligent and a good person." Brittany's nodding her head furiously now, causing Santana to laugh a little.

"She said that?" That eyebrow is raised, and it causes the latina to smile, because she hasn't seen it in months. The last few students walk into the room followed by their teacher and they all settle down.

"I'm home, Rae!" Santana yells up the stairs before walking in the kitchen to make a quick snack of Rachel's leftover apology cookies and some milk. She pours four glasses, just now hearing Quinn and Brittany coming through the door. Rachel appears in front of her quickly. Santana finds herself laughing quietly. Because Rachel's standing in front of her looking just like she would if she was in school, the dress, the hair, the shoes. When she thinks the about it, the latina shouldn't have expected anything different. Rachel presses a quick kiss on her lips and then on Brittany's too. Quinn's the first to stuff a cookie in her mouth. Mumbling about how good they are.

"Did Kurt accept my apology cookies?" The singer asks, hopefull look on her face. Brittany nods.

"Yea, he said apology accepted, and that he understands why you did it. That you should call him later." The three girls watch as Rachel visibly relaxes, gently grabbing her almond milk and drinking some down.

"Good, good." They're all a bit surprised when, after having fnished her milk, Quinn walks up too and then wraps her arms around the small singer."

"I just uh...thank's so much for believing in me when even I can't, Rachel. I don't really deserve a friend like you." Rachel squeezed her tight, then pulled back to look into those eyes.

"I believe in you because I love you, and because you do deserve it, Quinn. Once you learn to believe in you, more people will too, okay?" The blonde nodded, a small smile on her face that didn't seem so fake. She took her seat again, Santana pouring her a little more milk.

"So what did the dad's Berry say about the suspension?" The brunette frowned, the look on her face reminding Brittany of her little sister when she got in trouble.

"They said that they understood why I did what I did, but I could have chosen another method to help Kurt with his attempt to get in. They said, they said were very dissapointed in me." That frown was back again, and Santana grinned.

"Dissapointed is the worst. Are you like...grounded or something?" Quinn asked. Rachel shook her head no, breathing out heavily.

"No. They said I made an adult decision and adults don't get grounded, they just suffer the consequences of their actions. So I'm not sure what we'll do for sectionals..., but the party is still on. Noah's already got most of the alchohol, and I gave Britt the ipod to create a playlist, so we will be good to go. I'm pretty excited."

"I still haven't found a dress, though. The party's the day after tomorrow. I was looking for something hot... maybe purple." Brittany nudged Rachel in the side, giggling.

"Fine...fine. I may have procured a dress for you, Ana. It is, indeed, purple. Brittany and Quinn agreed that you would like it. It will be here tomorrow. I can show you now if you'd like." She produced her phone from her dress and tapped around on her screen before handing it over to her girlfriend.

"Whoa, that's nice. And the back is amazing. I have the perfect shoes. You _bought_ this for me?" She had the perfect leather half jacket too. She was going to look amazing.

"Yes. I was on tumblr and I saw the link for the website and I was shopping for a new hat, then I remembered the kind of dresses you usually wear and then I saw that and I had to buy it for you." It was exactly her style, and she kind of couldn't believe it, then Santana looked up a bit and saw the price point.

"Baby, it's a seventy dollar dress. I have plenty of dresses for parties that I could've worn. You didn't have to." She frowned, feeling almost guilty. She wasn't really sure why. She could easily see the distress in the other brunette's eyes before the girl could utter a single word, Brittany apparently saw it too, digging her fingers into the base of the singer's head and massaging at her scalp, her lips connecting with the diva's briefly to help her calm down.

"You don't like it? I know my style and yours aren't exactly the same and...you don't have to feel like you have to wear it if you don't." Quinn watched as Santana stood up and walked over, placing her lips softly against the shorter girl's forehead.

"Rae, the dress is beautiful, and I'm happy to wear it, okay. Thank you. But it's around dinner time, where are Leroy and Hiram?"

"They have a case a few counties over. Dad said they wouldn't be back till around midnight. Why, are you hungry? Quinn, Britt? You guys hungry?" The girls nodded.

"Can we have soup and sandwhiches?" Brittany asked, already excited about the idea of a grilled cheese and some tomato soup.

Santana wasn't quite sure how she did it, but she made pretty awesome sandwhiches for everyone. She made Rachel this awesome vegan mushroom, eggplant, tomato, mozzarella panini, Britt and herself a plain grilled cheese, and Quinn an awesome cheddar blt. She was a pretty badass cook. The vegan tomato soup was amazing, and she sat back, overly satisfied as the three girls took care of the dishes. When they finished, Brittany came over and sat the latinas lap, pressing a kiss to her lips.

"I've got to go, San. Gonna take Quinn home and then babysit Annabelle. Love you both." She dips back down to connect her lips to her girlfriend's, and while their preoccupied, Rachel glances over at the shorter blonde.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to, I can take you home later, or if you want, you can stay." The hazel eyed girl shakes her head, weak smile on her lips.

"No, Rach, it's fine. I'm a little tired and I've still got some homework to do. But I'll see you on friday for your party. I'm actually pretty excited. What time should I be here?" The singer really wants to ask her to stay again, if only because she can't fight the feeling that no one in her house loves her unconditionally, and that's what Quinn Fabray needs, if nothing else. Rachel smiles and nods at her.

"The party starts ten. It would be great if you came and got ready with us. Come over at around eight?" When Brittany finally stands up from her latina's lap, she and Rachel share goodbyes and kisses before both blondes dissapear from the Berry home. With her brows furrowed and a frown on full lips, it's apparent to Santana that Rachel's still thinking about Quinn.

"She's okay, Rachel. Quinn's got us, we're her real family. She's not alone when she's with us, so what's botherin' you?" The singer looks back at her, grimacing.

"I just...I can see how much it hurts her to have to go back to that big empty house. The only love she's ever gotten in that place was conditional, Santana. It's like she's been alone her whole life, I don't want her to have to feel that way anymore. It's not right but... I'm exausted, I think i'm going to bed, coming?" The other girl nodded, following after her as they ascended the stairs and went into their seperate rooms to throw on sleeping clothes.

The girls end up in Santana's bed again, said girl holding the other as the night carries them away.


	5. Chapter 5

Hazy

Chapter 5

I totally don't own glee.

Santana had to admit, the dress Rachel bought her is plain perfect. It fit her body just right and she smirked in the mirror as Quinn came in behind her, rolling her eyes.

"Don't pretend Q, admit it, I look hot." The other girl shook her head, golden tresses floating around her head like magic.

"Yea. So what did you guys decide to do?" She took a seat down on the latina's bed, hearing Puck's voice downstairs already.

"Rachel's not ready." She caught hazel eyes through the mirror, looking up towards her hair to make sure the bun that displayed her neck was still neat as when Rachel did it.

"And what about you and Britt? Are you ready?" She caught the subtle nod through the mirror.

"Yea. We think so. But this isn't exactly the type of shit any of us have any experience in, so it's cool. Just...can you maybe look over at her every once in a while. You know how me and B get at parties, and I don't want her to feel lonely or...ignored or anything. Just..." She stood up and they headed down the stairs, Santana taking in Quinn's dress as they did.

" Don't worry. Let's just have fun."

"You look great. Interested in someone...Trouty Mouth maybe?" The blonde shook her head, laughing.

"No. I'm actually happy being alone right now." They hit the basement floor and saw Britt, Rachel, and Puck setting up an ample amount of alchohol.

"Ok, one, you're not alone, Q, and you know it. And two, sup, Puckerman. Pour up them shots." Five shot glasses full of rum hit the table and Puck and the girls lifted them to the sky before knocking them back.

"When should everyone be here?" Britt asked, downing another shot and handing two to San and Quinn.

"Ten minutes? I talked to Sug before we came downstairs and she said she and the girls were just getting on the road. Santana husked out after her shot.

"Ditto for Kurt, Blaine, and 'Cedes. Noah will you put the beers on ice and grab me that drink that tastes like pink?"

"You got it babe, what about you two? And you, baby momma?"

"Me, S, and Britt'll just take another round of shots." The group sat around and got their buzzes started until Rachel headed upstairs to let the rest of the trebletones in the house. Kurt and Blaine, however, were first through the door.

"Wow. You look amazing Rachel." Said brunette smiled and stood back from Kurt to get a good look at his own ensemble.

"So do you, Kurt. And you're just as dashing as always, Blaine. If you'll head downstairs i'm sure you can get Noah to mix you up something you'll love." Isabel and Cadie come through the door next, hand in hand and smiles on both their faces.

"Hi, girls. I'm so glad you could make it, head right downstairs. Hello, Sugar. You look quite beautiful, thanks so much for coming" And so on and so forth until both clubs were downstairs and Puck was pouring out shots for everyone. He wasn't exactly sure when he became the bartender, but it didn't suck, and Sugar Motta had stuffed a fifty dollar bill in the empty glass jar by his left hand. After her, everyone started tipping him, and Puck ws never one to turn down cash when offered. He was pretty good at it, and he could maybe get a bartender job if he ever needed one. His jar was stuffed full of what looked to be around two hundred bucks. If he could get even a quarter of that a night, it'd be awesome.

When the whole room downed he first round of shots, Brittany hit play on her playlist, and Puck mixed up a dozen or so drinks, leaving them on the bar, officially shirking his bartending duties. But...not before he stuffed his tips in his pocket.

It was around midnight and Mike and Tina were, predictably, making out on the couch, Sam and Mercedes were laughing way too loudly, Isabel and Cadie were doing body shots next to Britt and Santana, and everyone else was dancing to Britt's admittedly amazing party playlist. Rachel, however, found herself watching her two girls together while she sat alone on the a barstool, drinking of all things whiskey and her smile gone. Quinn frowned, before making her way over and pulling the smaller girl up to her.

"What are you doing, Quinn?" The blonde grabbed Rachel's drink and downed it before pulling the brunnete behind her till they hit the middle of the impromptu dance floor.

"Not me. We. Are going to dance, and you're gonna have fun. And you're gonna smile." She didn't let go of Rachel's hand, and grinned in a way the brunette hadn't seen since they were both sophmores. When grouplove's Tongue Tied came over her speakers Rachel broke a huge smile and started to dance around just as randomly and wildly as Quinn.

The whole room sang the chorus as it came and went a few times. Rachel and Quinn both grinning like fools when Marry the Night came on next. Quinn's dancing was always one of Rachel's favorite things about her, and she didn't think that'd ever change. Everyone yelled out again

"I'm gonna marry, the night!"

"Ugh, those last few shots were pobably a bad idea, Rachel." Finally getting Quinn up the stairs, Rachel set her down on her bed and proceeded to pull off her shoes. It took her some time, and it was a little embarassing, for her only for now, but she got Quinn out of her dress and into shorts and a tank .If she had to guess, it was probably around three in the morning, and the party was just now dying down below them as she herself changed out of her little black dress and into something she could sleep in. Quinn reached up a pale, delicate hand and pulled Rachel down, causing the brunette to fall directly next to her, their gaze locked together.

"Will you hold me till I sleep? When Puck comes over, he always does. He um, he doesn't really want me, he's still hung up on your mom, but he says he cares enough to know I need it. I guess I do." Rachel shhed her, wrapping darker arms around the pale girl before pulling the duvet up to cover the both of them.

"It's not a bad thing to want to be held. I wish I had someone to hold me every night. But, to answer your initial question, yes, Quinn, i'll be here while you sleep. But you don't need Noah. Someone will find you, and they'll love you like you've always deserved. You are intelligent and beautiful and funny, and everything anyone could ever desire, who wouldn't want you?" Quinn turned and lay her head on the brunettes shoulder, she closed her eyes and breathed in, her head filling with the scent of apples and ginger.

"Do you want me?" Soft, bow-shaped lips brushed against the side of Rachel's throat as Quinn talked and the brunette wasn't exactly sure how to answer that question without making the way those lips on her skin made her feel too obvious.

"I used to. And, sometimes, you would look at me, and I would think you felt the same. But then you'd make me doubt it with the things you'd say." Rachel sighed loudly, barely hearing the 'i'm so sorry' and 'you smell really delicious' that slip between Quinn's lips.

"What about now?" Rachel wants to say that she's with Santana and Brittany and how she feels doesn't matter anymore.

"I don't know. I love you, and you know that. But I don't know if I still want you. Maybe, if, in the morning when you're sober and have some coffee in your system, if you remember this, i'll tell you the truth." She presses her lips to Quinn's forehead, spying the glass of water and four tylenol's on her bedside table.

"Night, Rach. I love you."

"Goodnight, Quinn." Soon enough both of them fall asleep and Brittany smiles when they do, looking over at her girlfriend. The party is finally over, and they'd just set everyone up with blankets and pillows before they hit the lights and came up the stairs to hear the two now slumbering girl's conversation.

"I'm not sure why you're smiling about that, B." Santana says this when she closes her door behind her, Brittany pulling off her clothes in front of her. When she's naked, she starts to undress the latina, placing kisses along tan skin as she goes along.

"I'm just as jealous as you are, baby. I just...before Rae was with us, I thought they belonged together and I don't know, maybe I still do. I want her with us, San, I do. But..." She latched her lips onto Santana's pulse point, making the Latina weak enough to lift her up and lay her down on the bed, pulling off the last of her clothing.

"But you want Quinn to be happy, and Rachel can do that better than anyone else. I don't know what to do. Rachel's a part of us, and I want to keep it that way. I love her, Baby."

"Me too." She heard the beginnings of the latina beginning to talk again, but stopped with her tongue buried even deeper than her head was between tan thighs.

"You have to be quiet tonight. You don't want to wake them up."

"Uhnnn, maybe I do. You did see her in that dress right? She's so beautiful, Britt."

"So are you." Is the last thing either of them say until they're both spent and cuddled tight together, eyes closed. Santana wants to maybe be okay with the way things are changing between Quinn and Rachel, but how can she be? The latina loves Quinn too, but she's not sure she loves her enough to give up on the smaller brunette if it comes down to it. She'll fight for her, and it's so fucked up, because Quinn Fabray is the only person not twice her size Santana's ever lost a fight with.


	6. Chapter 6

Hazy

By Elitemassacre6 aka Britt

Chapter 6

A/N: So, i obviously owe you guys an apology over how long it's taken me to write this. It's been difficult to put together based on the differences in peoples opinions about how this should have come together. Some wanted Berritana, some wanted Faberittana, some thought it was going to turn into Faberry/Brittana, and it isn't guys. I fully intend for this to continue on the path it's currently taking and write it out as it falls from my brain.

It's the smoky, alluring smell of bacon that wakes the slumbering blonde, her eyes opening and closing slowly over a period of five minutes. When she realizes she isn't dreaming, she raises her head off Rachel's chest to breathe deeply. When she exhales, her breathe tickles across the sleeping brunettes breast bone and she slowly opens her own coffee colored eyes.

"Quinn?" The way the other girl says her name...the husky quality having just awaken gives Rachel's voice is something the blonde tries to ignore while Rachel naturally flexes her muscles and pulls the blonde closer, her ear resting on the smaller girl's left breast. Everything from the night before slowly floods back into the hazel eyed-girl's mind, forcing her thoughts away from soft, delicious skin and awaiting bacon for the moment.

"G'morning, I think San and Britt are making breakfast downstairs if you're in the mood to get up." Their eyes lock together and finally, Rachel relaxes her toned arms enough for Quinn to reluctantly slip out and stand up, pulling the girl with her as she does.

"Good morning, Quinn. Would you mind handing me those sweats? Do you need a pair?" She stretched, muscled body long, lean, and attention grabbing, she catches the airborne clothing and slips the warm pants up each leg.

"No, i'm ok. Years of wearing those skirts has thrown away any modesty I may have had about my legs . Let's go, I smell bacon and...waffles?" Rachel nodded, following an obviously hungry Quinn down the steps and into the clean kitchen.

Two plates and mugs were placed in front of them when they sat down, Brittany smiling down at them.

"Look who's awake. Sleep good guys?" Brittany asks, leaning down to place her lips on Rachel's and then on Quinn's forehead before frowning back at Santana about the scowl twisting her lips.

"That's a good question, Q. Have a good night's sleep all cuddled up with our girlfriend?" Brittany softly shoved her elbow into the latina's abs, but also looked back at Quinn, just as interested in the answer. The shorter blonde flicked her eyes over to Rachel's, sipping on her coffee.

"Stop it. Quinn was very drunk last night and she needed me. I'd have done the same for either of you before we were together. Santana, stop looking at her like that, Quinn did nothing wrong." Rachel reached over and grabbed the blondes hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"But since you ask, we both slept very well thank you. When did everyone leave?"

"Twenty minutes ago. We made them breakfast then started on yours. We knew that bacon would wake Quinn up. The basement's already all cleaned up, and Britt had Puck take all the garbage out." The hazel eye'd blonde finally looked up at what the other two girl were wearing.

"Where are you two heading?" Quinn asks, tearing into the last quarter of her bacon topped, syrup slathered waffle.

"We promised Annabelle we'd take her to that hands on musuem in Columbus. Got to go pick her up now. We would have invited you two, but we made the plans and everything a month and a half ago. " Quinn bit into her last piece of bacon as Santana grabbed her keyes off the counter and stuffed a beanie over her flowing hair.

"Would you rather take the Volt? That's a pretty long drive." Rachel grabbed her plate and Quinn's too as she stood up, heading to the sink. She dropped them in and leaned up on her toes to place soft kisses on the two bundled up girl's lips.

"Nope, full tank, bye guys." Brittany yelled behind her back as they walked out the door, locking it behind them.

"I guess we're spending time together today unless you have other plans, Rach?"

"I do not. Now seems like as good a time as any to start that conversation." Quinn raised that trademark eyebrow, licking the last of the taste of syrupy bacon off of her lips.

"Was there supposed to be a conversation? You said once we'd had our coffee, if I remembered the night, you'd tell me the truth." That perfect, slim, eyebrow popped, and Rachel huffed out her frustration at the way being close to Quinn made her say things she probably shouldn't

"I did say that. Why did I say that?" Quinn laughed lightly, leaning back in her chair when Rachel pouted at her.

"Maybe because the answer is yes?" The blonde said, both confidence and a lack of it was evident to Rachel in those words. She wanted to tell Quinn that she was wrong, that she'd been trying to save her feelings last night, because everything was already so complicated with Brittany and Santana and the relationship she was as of yet unprepared to make public.

"Maybe...say you are correct about that. What would that mean? Everything is already so..." She tangled her fingers together in a gesture that she hoped Quinn understood.

"It would mean that i'm willing to wait for you until everything is less complicated. Until you're ready. You've given that gift to me once before. I'd be glad to give it to you, now."

"I wish I didn't have to ask that of you. Time is the hardest thing to give, especially concerning something or... someone you care greatly about. "

"I do, Rache. You know that. In the mean time, in between time..." Rachel rolled her eyes at her, laughing light heartedly.

"You have friends and family. Those who love you. And as it always will, that includes me."

"I love you too. Now, let's go." Quinn pulled Rachel on behind her as she headed towards the stairs.

"What? Go? Where are we going?" She stumbled up the stairs behind the rushing blonde, she was going to have to talk to Quinn about the dangers of running on unstable surfaces.

"I may have signed us up for a dance class. It won't screw with your schedule, I set us up on a trial basis. We have to be there in half an hour, so hop in the shower and i'll use San's, okay?"

"Wait, Quinn, what should I wear? What kind of class is it?" Rachel reached out, her hand soft in the blonde's.

"Put on those shoes from the New York number we did and something loose and comfortable. Hurry though, I know you'll want to be early." The taller girl pushed Rachel into her room before turnin and heading into Santana's. She knew th brunette was excited to try something new, and that was the whole reason for her signing them up, for the two of them to have fun together doing something new. And, maybe, in the meantime, all the physical exercise could make her temporarily forget that Rachel, Santana, and Brittany didn't seem to want her the way she wanted them.


	7. Chapter 7

Rachel sat on the wooden floors, watching as the remainders of the class Quinn had brought her to left the room, leaving them alone. She looked up from stretching, watching as her friend went through the steps to their routine again, her wild golden hair wet with sweat as she spun on the tips of her shoes, eyes closed until she faced the mirror. Rachel would have to sit down with her girlfriends. All of this already seemed like a lot, but she couldn't say she wasn't attracted to Quinn if they asked her. Couldn't say she didn't love her, want her. She closed her eyes as she leaned to stretch her hamstrings. It was a few minutes before she felt said girl in front of her.

"Hey." Quinn grinned, plopping down to the floor and handing over a bottle of water.

"So what do you think? This class is awesome right? I love that routine, and it feels really good to move like this again. The choreography is pretty challenging right? I signed all four of us up for today and five more Sundays. Didn't know S and Britt would be busy." Rachel watched her throat move as she drank her water down, squashing down her desire to place her lips there.

"Yea, it was fun actually. I feel like its been so long since we did anything like this in glee, and I love dancing with you and my girls, so I'll see to all of us coming next sunday. How about we head home and shower, then perhaps see if they'll come eat dinner with us."

/?\\

Brow's furrowed, Quinn gazed down at the skin covering her hips, frowning at the ugly discoloration of the few stretch marks that had fought being erased by large amounts of hope and cocoa butter. It was difficult, fighting the part of her who never wanted to go back to who she used to be and the part of her that hoped that little tormented girl was still a part of her. Pulling away the rest of the towel that'd rested too low on her hips, Quinn smiled at the image of herself bared. She was beautiful. And though it had cost her more than it should have, she no longer even thought of standing in front a mirror like this, picking apart the many flaws she'd spent her whole high school life trying to hide away from. Reaching back for the towel to cover herself, she also reached for the door, intending to cover herself before she walked out to grab her bag. She stumbled back against the towel rack as the door pushed itself open in front of her. Eyes wide, the blonde panicked when it turned out to be Santana.

"What the fuck, Quinn?" Noticing how highly arched the brunette's brow was, Quinn reached past the other girl to grab the towel she now realized was probably a bit small. Covering herself and backing away, Quinn grimaced, her nose wrinkling.

"I'm sorry-I...we went to this dance class...and I was all gross...I didn't think you'd mind if I used your shower...since you guys wouldn't be back until four. I'm sorry, ok. Can I...I'll grab my stuff and get changed in the other bathroom." Trying futilely to cover more of her exposed body, the blonde huffed while Santana's eyes raked over the visible tops of her thighs and the sides of each of her breasts.

"Why so coy, Quinnie? What's the reason for the show? Hoping Rachel would come check on you?" the blonde shook her head.

"No. I wouldn't do that to you or Britt and you know it! And why are you so blind? What makes you think Rachel's the only one I want?

"Seriously? Fuck...look Q...Britt and Rae, they're with me...and I love them okay, both of them. You can't always get what you want. Especially when it's mine." Quinn huffed, and found another, barely larger towel to wrap herself in.

"You're so... What is it that makes it so hard for you to see that I love _you_ just as much and just the same as I do them?" Quinn made to walk around Santana to the door, becoming even more frustrated when Santana put a hand to her chest and stepped in her way to keep her from making her escape.

"Wait, what? What...you meant me, too? I didn't think..." Face crunching up in confusion, Santana dropped her hand from over Quinn's heart.

"I can tell, just, look can I just go? I'll just leave you alone. You guys have fun at Maggie's. I'm going home." Quinn pushed past the still shocked Santana, sighing when Brittana and Rachel walked into the room. She grabbed her bag and went to leave when the Latina, finally out of her stupor, gently grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"No, Quinn, please wait, I'm sorry." the blonde shook her head.

"No, it's fine. Let me go please, I need to leave now." Rachel and Britt frowned and moved closer, the tallest girl in the room the first to notice the tell-tale sign of the beginnings of Quinn's tears.

"Where are you going, I thought we were going out to Maggie's to eat." Rachel asked, frowning with hurt openly visible in her eyes.

"We were but..I..."

"No, you're coming, okay. I'm sorry I was so stupid. I just didn't know...I'd never even thought any of this was possible until Britt made me see. I don't want you to leave, Quinn." Britt stepped forward, wiping tears from pale cheeks and placing a soft kiss against the shorter blonde's forehead.

"You told her?" Britt asked when she pulled back, knowing how hard it must have been for Santana to understand. Quinn nodded. Placing another kiss against soft lips, Brittany looked back at a confused Rachel, capturing her hand in her own to pull her out of the room.

"You two talk then get ready, okay. I'll explain to Rach." Brittany walked out of the room closing the door behind her and pulling her girlfriend with her towards the bedroom across the hall, sitting down on the bed.

?

"What was that, what happened?"

"Quinn told Santana how she feels about us, San just didn't understand that us meant all three of us, not just me and you. So she got all jealous/protective until Q made her understand. We've always been close and San's always felt something for her, but could never figure out what it was. When I tried to explain, she just kind of shut down about it, It's been awhile.

"So, but wait the four of us, finally like? All of us together?" Rachel ventured, unable to keep the smile from her tone or her lips.

"Yea, baby, I think so. It's always so silly waiting and watching the three of you put together the pieces of a puzzle I've already solved."


	8. Chapter 8

Santana sat down on the bed, eyes closed and head in her hands. She looked up when Quinn walked back into the room from the connected bathroom, full pink lip between her teeth in the way that told the Latina they were both equally as nervous and on edge about the conversation they were about to have, the conversation they had to have. The blonde walked closer, slowly sitting down close enough for the soft skin of her thighs to press against tanner ones, connecting them.

"I'm sorry, Quinn. I just don't understand...like how can you love _me_? How can any of you?" She wanted to say more, needed to. She couldn't find a way to express it all. She had never thought herself to be worthy of anyone's love, let alone three girls as perfect for her as Quinn, Rachel, and Brittany. Her mother gave birth to her and yet couldn't stand her. Had made it clear how useless and unlovable Santana really was. Even her father made it seem, from her point of view, like it was a struggle to deal with her, to have to spend any time with her. How could these girls not see what everyone else could?

"It's so easy, San. Too easy. And like an idiot I've spent so many years trying to fight my feelings for you and for Britt and Rach too. Not because I wanted to, but because I couldn't help but feel like all i'd do is hurt all three of you worse than I already had, and that's the last thing I wanted. It has taken me _so_ long to get past all the self hate my family instilled in me. And I finally feel like maybe I'm worth something. Like maybe someone can love me unconditionally. The way I love them. The way i love _you_."

"I love you too, Quinn. I'm sorry I'm such an idiot. I was afraid that you were trying to take them from me, and I just, i was afraid that if it came to it, they would leave me for you. Like...who wouldn't, right?" The blond sighed, gently stroking her thumb over Santana's cheeks to wipe her tears away.

"Hey, don't cry, San. i don't know what it will take for you to realize that none of us would leave you. And definitely not for anyone else. _We love you_. Alright?" Santana nodded, her dark eyes shining with fresh tears. For the first time, she couldn't fight her desire to kiss Quinn. The blonde opened her mouth to her, laying back along cool sheets as the smaller girl relaxed into her arms. They lay that way, tangled together and kissing each other the way they'd always wanted to but been unable to. It was Quinn who finally pulled Santana down to lay upon her shoulder. She ran a pale hand through dark hair and thought about all it had taken, all they had lost, to get there. All four of them.

"I can't believe we'll finally be together, all of us. Being able to lay here like this with you in my arms is one of those things I'd given up on because I knew I would never be able to touch you like I wanted. After a few years, I think I was too good at hiding, at giving up on what I really wanted." Santana tipped her head up, pressing her full lips to the top of Quinn's throat for a moment.

"You know, Brittany told me that I shouldn't hide the way I feel for you. I kept expecting her to be like jealous or even angry for once but she seemed _proud of me_ when i realized I wanted you with me the way she always has been. It was so weird, Q. But you know how she is with knowing things about us that even we don't." Quinn nodded, brushing her hand through dark hair for a few moments before gently pushing Santana up to stand.

"I'll go wait with Britt and Rach while you change." Santana nodded then walked into her closet while Quinn walked out of the door and downstairs. She found Rachel and Brittany sat on the couch, leaning together. Wordlessly, she lay down with her head in their laps.

"Q, hi. Look at that smile on your face! I knew you two would work it out. You always do. It's how I know you love each other as much as you do. You two are never able to give up on each other, even when you want to." Quinn grinned up at them both, her eyes golden and bright with the love she held for the three of them.

"Alright babes let's roll. I'm seriously starving. Chasing Annabelle around a museum is a fucking serious work out." She skipped down the stairs, Rachel's keys swinging on her index finger. The girls got off the couch and followed her to grab coats from the closet. They all piled in the car, Britt in the passenger seat with Quinn and Rachel in the back. The tallest blonde had officially called forever shotgun the day before. They strapped their seat belts and Santana had them on the road.

"Wait, um Britt...how do we handle this in public. I'm not afraid or ashamed of any of you but I understand if you think we shouldn't make things any more difficult or dangerous for any of us." Brittany grimaced, thinking it over. Maggie's restaurant seemed like a safe place for them to be themselves, but the place was popular and getting more so by the day.

"I think maybe it would be a good idea if we paired up in public and at school. If only so we don't have to deal with people accusing us of cheating on each other. I mean, sometimes I totally want to make out with Quinn in the hallways but I don't think anyone would understand, you know?" Rachel nodded and Santana shrugged her acceptance.

"I get it." Rachel said

"So we'll be Brittana and Faberry when we're not alone, okay?"

"Got it, babe."

Fifteen minutes later, the girls were sliding down into the Berry booth. Santana and Brittany on one side with Rachel and Quinn on the other. It wasn't until she was standing there that Santana remembered the admittedly gorgeous waitress that apparently still wanted Rachel. Said small-statured singer was grinning over at Quinn, telling her the story of the Berry Booth. Their finger's were intertwined and laying on top of the table.

"Hi again, what can I get you?" The tall, brunette spoke, smile on her face. Brittany watched as green eyes zipped over to the tangling of pale and tan fingers.

"Natalie, hi! You've already met Santana and Brittany, this is Quinn." Said blonde lifted the hand that wasn't tied up in Rachel's and waved.

"It's nice to meet you, Quinn." Her eyes appeared honest, but Brittany could see the pain in them directed at the the two girls across from her. The girl's all ordered and the waitress disappeared.

"I think I actually totally forgot about Natalie. She seemed hurt, right? I didn't really think she still felt like that."

"I know, but the whole thing with you kissing her right at the corner of her lips and touching her the way you did probably isn't making it easier for her to let go." Santana said this around her straw, sipping at her root beer float.

"Right." Rachel said, frowning. Quinn kissed it away.

"Maybe it would make it easier if you explained to her that you're with someone and didn't mean what you did as anything but a friendly gesture?" The blonde spoke, brushing her hand against soft skin. She knew how much Rachel loathed hurting people.

"I think that may be the best idea, Rae. Before things become any more complicated."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This one is admittedly pretty short. I'm leaving for vacation in a couple days and wanted to get something out before I got in the pre-trip frenzy and ignored all of this all together.**

It was just after ten when Leroy and Hiram tapped their fists against Santana's already half-open door.

"Girls?"

"Come on in, Hiram." When the two men opened the door the rest of the way they smiled softly at all four girls, already in pajamas.

"Hi, how was Chicago?" It was Quinn who asked this. She was cuddled into Britt's side, with Rachel across from her being held by Santana. They were all touching in some way.

"It was amazing. Your father is a complete romantic, Rachel. However, I think it may be the four of you that have some important news you want to give us?" The girls all nodded.

"Dads, we, the four us...have realized that we care about each other greatly and are currently engaged in a relationship." Neither man looked exactly shocked, perhaps a little surprised. It was Hiram who spoke next.

"Always so verbose, little star. But how did the four of you come to this decision? And what about relationship equality? Santana and Rachel live together, isn't there a risk of them growing closer without the both of you? Oh, and what did you decide about the four of you being together in public?" Both men sat down at the foot of Santana's bed. They were worried honestly. Lima was still difficult enough for them and they were at least adults and in a traditional one on one relationship. The girls were still so young, it could be dangerous.

"Rachel isn't ready to flaunt around all the hotness she has on her arms now, but she said she's okay with being out, so we all decided together that it would make things easier if we pretended like we're two separate couples instead of the one we actually are. And I didn't say anything before but I'm worried about Quinn, too." The shortest blonde sat up, sitting with her legs crossed.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you said you're okay with being out, that you aren't afraid, but what about your mom? You know she'll hear and then what? We know you're lonely there, but we also know that the last thing you want is to get kicked out of your house again, Quinn. I know how much it hurt you the last time."

"I...I haven't thought about it. I thought it would feel good to just have something I want instead of talking myself out of it with all the reasons I shouldn't have it, why I don't deserve it, or how it will come around to bite me in the ass, you know. I don't know, though...about my mom. I guess we'll find out soon how that will go...right?" The nervousness showed through the timid half smile she forced on.

"Girls, we understand how hard it is to have to separate from family because of something you can't control. But please understand that even if you aren't welcome in your own homes you'll always be welcome in ours. We would love to have you here Quinn, if the need arises and even if it doesn't." Quinn nodded, silently accepting the hug offered her by Rachel's larger father.

"Thank you." The two men say goodnight and then leave, closing the door behind them. Quinn grabbed her phone from the bed side table, groaning at the text her mother sent asking to talk to her about something 'important' the next day. it seemed things would be coming to a head sooner than she wanted them to.

"I'm so tired."

"So come back to the comfy cuddle pile and we'll kiss you to sleep." Brittany whispers from behind her, already pulling her back down to lay among them. The blue eyed blonde pulls the phone from willing fingers and sets it aside, leaning down to kiss her girlfriend softly afterwards.

"Tomorrow, we'll all go with you to talk to your mom. If you feel like you have to talk to her alone then we'll all sit out in the car, okay. We'll be there, Quinn." Warm greenish eyes close when three sets of lips find purchase against her skin, and she slips off into slumber.


End file.
